Employee Involvemnt

8/20/2019 Employee Involvemnt

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Learning Objectives

• Quality of Work life

•

Scope of QWL• Quality Circles

• Suggestion Schemes etc.,

QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

(i) Restructuring of multiple dimensions of the

organisation

by instituting a mechanism.

hich introduces and sustains changes o!er t(ii) #ocus on ork teams"

(iii) $utonomy in planning ork"

%oday e ill discuss the topic Quality of Work

life(QWL) and

the role of &R' ith QWL.

t as around *++ that #.W. %aylor de!eloped hat are

commonly knon as the rinciples of Scienti-c

anagementhich till today form the basis for designing /obs inmostorganisations. %he traditional /ob design of

scienti-c manage0ment focuses mostly on di!ision of labour,hierarchy, closesuper!ision and the one best ay of doing ork.%his. nodoubt, has brought se!eral bene-ts to society butils disad0

!antage has been its high human cost. %he highlyspeciali1ed

/obs ha!e made orkers socially isolated from theirfelloorkers eakened their community of interest inthe holeproduct and deskilled them to such an e2tent thatorkers ha!elost pride in their ork. %he system of hierarchyhas madeorkers totally dependent upon their superior. t isalays thesuperior and not his subordinates ho initiatesactions andcontrols the orking en!ironment. Closesuper!ision furtheraccentuates orkers3 dependence on theirsuperiors. %he result

is high turno!er and absenteeism. Quality declinesand orkersbecome alienated.

4o, as orkers are becoming more and more educated,

skilled, a5uent and unioni1ed the abo!edysfunctionalconse6uences of ork are becoming less and lessacceptable. is no longer possible to design /obs solelyaccording to theneeds of technology completely o!erlooking theneeds of orkers. %here is an all round demand for

de!eloping thehumanised /obs hich can satisfy orkers3 higher

needs,employ their higher skills and make them beciti1ens,spouses and parents. %he /obs need to bee2cellent both fromthe point of !ie of technology and human n%hetraditional /ob design needs to be replaced benriched /obdesign. %his demand for redesigning of /obscome to beknon as Quality of Work Life. t en/oinsmanagement to treatorkers as human resources that are to bede!eloped ratherthan simply used.

Scope of QWL%he scope of QWL mo!ement hich originalincluded only

/ob redesign e7orts based on the socio0technsystemsapproach has gradually idened !ery much

to include aide !ariety of inter!entions such as 6ualitycircles, suggestionschemes, employee participation, empoermautonomousork teams etc. %hese ha!e been described folloingpages. While the speci-cs of these inter!ent

!ary in eachcase the common elements in all theseinter!entions seem to beas under8


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(/!) #ocus on skill de!elopment" and

(!) ncreased responsi!eness to employee concerns.

Quait! "irces $ 6uality circle is a completely !oluntary group of 9 to :

orkers

of a shop or; ho meet regularly during company time

oncee!ery fortnight or e!ery month under die leadership of atrained

foreman or section head to e2amine ork0relatedproblems thata a7ect the 6uality of output and to recommend to themanagement possible solutions to those problems. %heforemen for this purpose are trained in ad!ance in basicstatistical and prob0lem0sol!ing techni6ues as ell as inhandling groups.

%he moti!ation to form such a group comes solely from

the

orker3s desire to do some0thing creati!e. 4obody is paid to

/oin, nobody is forced to /oin, and nobody is penalised. aking a list of all possible causes of the prob

ithout

e2amining or e!aluating them.

?. %esting the !alidity of each cause ith the act

cooperation of !arious specialist depart0mentasproduction engineering, 6uality control, etc. %subse6uent testing of each idea (hich as pforard instep >) allos Lime for its assimilation by thecircle. beidea no no longer remains an indi!idual3sproperty butbecomes the property of the group. &ence, his

re@ected, criticised or commented upon, the tis theidea and not its author.

A. resenting the solution to the management for

implementation.

Quality circles ere -rst de!eloped in Bapan in th

early si2ties.

%oday, these circles ha!e spread to many other countri

including ndia. %he Ramchandrapuram unit of at&yderabad is perhaps the -rst to ha!e pioneered6uality


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circle mo!ement in ndia. %he concept as -rst

sold to the

company3s top le!el e2ecuti!es. ut it as later onthought thatthe mo!ement ill not gain ground unless themiddlemanagement3s support as also a!ailable. %he middle

manage0

ment as knon for using de!ious means to scuttle

6ualitycircles because it did not like these circles comingup ithproblems about hich it had earlier told the topmanagementthat they simply did not e2ist, or ith solutions,hich it hadalays considered impossible. So, the middlemanagers erealso e2posed to the ne philosophy and ere madeto realisethat they could . t pro!ides the orker autonomy and sense of

achie!ement.t

?. t ensures greater participation and in!ol!ement

of a

orker in the day0ta0day function0ing of hisdepartment.

A. t helps in -nding solutions to se!eral problems

and in

remo!ing cobebs and bot0tlenecks in dailyfunctioning.

9. t helps in creating cohesi!e groups ith impro

morale.

Re$uisites for Success

. %here should be middle management3s support

seuing up

and functioning of a 6uality circle. t is norecognised that6uality circles fail mainly because of the dubioacti!itiesof these people ho do not !ie fa!ourably anproblemsbeing pointed out by the orkers about hichhadearlier told the top management that they simdid note2ist or solutions, hich they had alaysconsideredimpossible.

=. %he circle should not be made to function as a

standing institution. t is no clear that beingpart of the

total system the circle cannot sur!i!e on ilS ootherords the hole culture of the organi1ation mchange.

$ 6uality circle cannot function ithout a 6ualculture.

>. %here should be a -rm commitment of top

management

for implementing the circle3s recommendationcircumstances here a recommendation cannimplemented the management should e2plain reasons

therefore.?. %he foremen ho lead the circle should be train

A. Groundork should be carefully planned and c

out.

Generally one has to o!er0come inertia of orkers

are


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suspicious of management moti!es. $ facilitator

(generally

from ithin the company) may be appointed topreparethe ground. &is tasks ill include training circleleaderscoordinating inter0circle acti!ities and obtain0ingspecialistad!ice from other departments here necessary.

Suggestion Sc%e&est is an incenti!e scheme designed to encourage andreard thesubmission of !aluable and practical ideas forimpro!ingoperational e7iciency in !arious areas, such as, orken0!ironment, ork mo!ements, layout of machines.,substitution of materials, impro!ement in tools,e7ecti!e useof safely precautions and de!ices, elimination ofdefecti!e

production and aste, ma2imum utilisation of e2istingmachinery and so on. When people see that their ideascounttheir dignity is raised. nstead of feeling numb likerobots theyfeel im0portant.

$mong the direct bene-ts of a suggestion scheme are

the

folloing8

• t can make ork more easy

• t can make0ork more safe

• t can remo!e mistakes

• t can impro!e 6uality

H can increase e7iciency

• t can decrease re/ects

• t can reduce costs

• t can gi!e more satisfaction + customers through

better

ser!ice

Some indirect bene-ts of a suggestion scheme are as

follos8

• t increases employees3 ork morale

• t de!elops their capabilities• t acti!ates communication

• it impro!es human relations

• t identi-es ork0related problems

• t raises the le!el of group acti!ities.

%he establishment of a suggestions scheme

presupposes

certain preparation by the management. %he schememust beintroduced ith a good deal of publicity and employeeeducation. Dmployees should be clearly told that their

sugges0tion should not be (i) a complaint about a method

ithoutsuggesting an alternati!e method. or (ii) a personalgrie!anceregarding age, promotion or any other matter, or (icomplaint about any other person, or (i!) a commentcompany3s personnel policies in!ol!ing negotiation thelabour unions, go!ernment or any other e2ternal authlank forms and empty sug0gestion bo2es must be pucon!enient points. %he bo2es should be opened e!ery

andsuggestions acknoledged directly and promptly. %hmanage0ment should set up a committee consisting of a orkrepresentati!e. the head of Research and 'e!elopmedepart0ment and the &R'Ipersonnel manager to ensure comimpartiality in the administra0tion of the scheme. %hecommit0tee should e2amine each idea ithout knoing the nor theperson. $lternati!ely, the ork of the e!aluation or idcan


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also be entrusted to the orks committee if it

already e2ists.

&igher e2ecuti!es may be e2cluded from gettingreards.

$ suggestions scheme usually encounters to

problems8

. %he scheme may face opposition from the line

super!isoror sta7 personnel ho consider all suggestionscomingfrom employees as a re@ection on theire7iciency. %hisdi7iculty may be o!ercome by in!ol!ing the linesuper!isoror sta7 personnel in e!aluating suggestions andhandingout reards.

=. Dmployees themsel!es may sometimes0oppose

the scheme

if they fear that a good labour0sa!ingsuggestion mayresult in their lay0o7. %his di7iculty may beo!ercome byassuring them before the scheme is introducedthat nolabour0sa!ing suggestion ould be alloed tocauselayo7.

any companies in ndia ha!e successfully

introduced sugges0

tion schemes in their or0ganisalions. 4otable

among them are&industan $ircraft Ltd., &industan Steel Ltd.,&industanLe!er, Larsen and %oubro, aruti Jdyog Ltd. $t thenationalle!el rime inister3s Shram $ards are gi!en e!ery

year to

orkers for their contribution to cost sa!ings, tech0nologicalinno!ations. import substitution and foreigne2change sa!ingand for shoing rare courage at critical momentsat the shop

@oor. %hese aards fall into the folloing -!ecategories8 ShramRatna, Shram hushan, Shram Kir, Shram Shri andShram'e!i, Shram Ratna is the highest aard hichcarries a cashpri1e of Rs. lakh.

Suggestions Sc%e&e of 'aruti U#!og Lt#(

. Write your idea in the Suggestion #orm as

clearly and

correctly as possible and drop the form in theSuggestion

o2 or hand it o!er to your superior or theSuggestion

Scheme Coordinator or to the Suggestio $cti!ities 7ice.

=. %he Suggestion Scheme Coordinator ill

collect nil the

suggestions once a eek, maintain a recthem andinform you immediately hether yoursuggestion is acceptMable or not. %he coordinator ill return tcounterfoil of

your Suggestion #orm along ith a tokeaard of Rs.= to

your 'epartment anager, ho ill hano!er to you.

>. %he coordinator ill send your suggestion

the

concerned sectionIdepartment here it ill b

e2amined by

the concerned sectionIdepartment manafor itsfeasibility for adoption. &e ill also decithe pri1e money

to be paid for the suggestion on the basiits monetarybene-t as shon belo8

ri1e Rs. + for a suggestion hich cann

implemented

but is considered a good attempt.

ri1e Rs. =A for a suggestion hich oul

yield a bene-t

of less than Rs. A++ p.m. ri1e Rs. A+ forsuggestionhich ould yield a bene-t of Rs. A++ or

more p.m. ri1eRs. ++ for a suggestion hich ould yiebene-t of Rs.+++ or more p.m. pri1e Rs. =++ for asuggestion hichould yield a bene-t of Rs. =+++ or more

ri1e Rs. >++ for a suggestion hich ou

yield a bene-t

of Rs. >+++ or more p.m. ri1e Rs. A++ fosuggestionhich ould yield a bene-t of Rs. A+++ or mo

p.m.3


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ri1e Rs. +++ for a suggestion hich ould yield a

bene-t

of Rs. +,+++ or more p.m. ri1e Rs. A++ for asuggestionhich ould yield a bene-t of Rs. A. +++ or morep.m.ri1e Rs. =+++ for a suggestion hich ould yield abene-tof Rs, =+,+++ or more p.m.

f the monetary bene-t of any idea cannot be

calculated. it

ill be e!aluated and aarded for its no!elty oruni6uenessand the possibility of its use in other areas of thecompany.

?. $ suggestion may not be adopted if8

(a) it has already been adopted and implemented

(b) B the cost of its implementation outeighs the

bene-ts

(c) the suggestion is technically not feasible

(d) the contents or the suggestion are not clear.S. Nour Suggestion #orm along ith the e!aluation and

the

department manager ill return grading to theSuggestion $cti!ities 7ice from here the aards ill be disbursed

on a monthly basis. $n aard gi!en for a groupsuggestion ill be shared e6ually by all members ofthegroup.

E&po!ee )articipation in 'anage&ent

articipation is a ay of gaining commitment by orkers

tosome proposal on the ground that if you ha!e beenin!ol!ed indiscussing it you ill be more interested in its sub/ectse!eralresearch studies ha!e shon that the intensity ofparticipationdepends on ? factors8

. %he sub/ect matter of participation. Worker3s interest

in

participation !aries ith the nature of issues

in!ol!ed inparticipation. f they are tri!ial or foreclosed, e!eryonerealises it, participati!e methods ill boomerassuesthat do not a7ect the orkers concerned ill on thehole engage their interest. Workers should hstake inthe results of participation.

=. Le!el of participation. articipation can take p

at > le!els

in an enterprise le!el, plant le!el and corporale!el. n bigenterprises there may be a fourth le!el also, idepartmental le!el, in beteen the shop @oor and

plant

ost orkers desire participa0tion at the @oorbecauseat this le!el they can directly participate ithrepresentati!es.

>. ersonal characteristics. articipation also dep

on theindi!idual characteristics of orkers. %hey cabeordered to participate. %hey must antparticipation andmust ha!e the necessary skill and informationenablethem to participate e7ecti!ely.

?. D2tent of participation. %his should be !ery cle

the

orkers. f their ad!ice only is re6uired then should

be told so. f they are asked for a decision thedecision must be accepted.

%SC in ndia pro!ides an e2ample of the type o

partnership

hich needs to e2ist beteen management andorkers3 unionin any organisation. &ere the %ata Workers3 Jnioin!ol!edin almost e!ery institutional matter and the unionpresident istreated as part of the top le!el of the company. &accompanies


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the Chairman in the reception committees for

dignitaries sit on

the dais ith the top team in most institutionalfunctions andis treated ith respect and dignity by thechairman. %he union ise2pected + contribute in all institutional areas andis consultede!en in matters of di!ersi-cation and the

company3s futureplans. %he attempt is not to contain unionin!ol!ement but toe2pand it and the dominant method of con@ictresolution isnot bargaining but problem0sol!ing in anatmosphere of mutual understanding.

n Steel %ubes of ndia Ltd., 'eas (..), the

anager

(&uman Resources) is chosen by the electedrepresentati!es of

the orkers (called Ban Sabha) from amongmanagers ill morethan > years ser!ice in the company. %he electionthus made bythe Ban Sabha is binding on the management andthe electedperson is appointed for a >0year term.

>. %he unions in many cases are apposed to these

directors

because they feel that their poers are reducedhen thedirectors get some of orker3s demands accepted at

theoard le!el.

?. %here is fear that certain company secrets might be

di!ulged

to the union and its members.

A. %here is fear that by alloing orkers to become

a part of

the oard the concept of pri!ate enterprise illbe eroded.

E&po*er&ent

%his decepti!ely simple idea says that employees atall le!els of an organisation should be gi!en responsibility andauthority formost dayMto0day decisions. Within broad limits itmust be upto the employees to decide hat they can decideand hat mustbe pushed up the ladder to higher management.%he di7erencebeteen this concept and the earlier concept ofparticipati!emanagement lies mainly in the reasons behind theconcepts

rather than any ma/or di!ergence in the conceptsthemsel!es.

%he need for participati!e management comes fromanagement3s desire to make employees moresatis-ed on theassumption that this ould make them moreproducti!e.%oday, the case for empoerment comes from busneedsthat are central to the success of a company8 fastresponse tocustomers, strong cross0functional links at multip

le!els andthe need to sei1e opportunities that are too local, @eeting ortoo many in number to permit a centralised decismakingprocess. &oe!er, the strategic choice of the e2tehichempoerment should be gi!en must be based on type of industry or ser!ice, sense of responsibility of peopen!iron0ment etc.

%he crucial indication3 of an empoered ork force are

follos8

. eople sho an aareness of the goals and stra

of the

organisation.

=. %hey take personal responsibility for the outcom

of their

ork.

>. %hey continually monitor their on performanc

?. %hey see; additional resources hen they do no

ha!e hat

they need to perform ell. A. %hey take initiatto helppeople in other areas to impro!e their perform


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'erits of E&po*er&ent

. Speed. When employees kno that the authority

and

responsibility for outcomes rests ith them, theycan takeaction siftly to respond to changes andopportunities asthey arise ithout checking ith their superiors. $ customer telephoned a mail0order computer supply

company to en6uire about the price of some e2tramemoryfor his C. &e as e2tremely surprised hen thesalesomen 6uoted him a price that as ellbelo hathe had e2pected. &e asked if she as certain the price

as

correct. %here as a pause" presumably as shenoticed thatshe had 6uoted the rong price. %hen, instead ofcorrect0ing it, she ama1ed the customer by saying, you areright.%hat is not the correct price but it is ithin mymargin and can gi!e it to you at that price if you place your order

no.O $s the customer placed the order, thethought tohimself, here as some one ho as empoeredto makedecisions on behalf of he company, to respondimmediately to unpredictable situations ithoutcheckingith someone else. $t #ederal D2press hich hasstringent

customer0ser!ice standards (such as. each packagemust bedeli!ered on time" phones to be ansered in fourrings"supplies to be deli!ered by A p.m. the day afterthey areordered, and so on) empoerment goes to thee2tent thatan employee handling an order can charter anaeroplane todeli!er an important shipment.

=. #ormation of important crossfunctional links.

nstead of

seeking solutions of their many oprationalproblems fromtheir superiors in the hierarchy, employees makehori1ontalconnections appropriate to their business. Suchlinks canform and reform as necessary ithout the say0so of topmanagement.

>. orale. Dmployees feel better about their ork if

they

kno that they ha!e more control o!er it. %hey feel

thathat they do has meaning and signi-cance and

that theirdecisions make a di7erence to the success of theorganisation.

?. Compensation for limited career paths. any

employees in

organisations no face the prospect of limitedad!ancement gi!en recent demographic trends athetendency toard @atter hierarchies, f promotionuna!ailable companies need to -nd other ays ofincreasing employees3 responsibilities and reardroadening their responsibility and authority is oay toaccomplish this, Dmpoered employees may -nd

/obs challeng0ing and rearding enough thatpromotionceases to be their only criterion for remaining loytheorganisation,

+e&erits

. ,reater potentia for c%aos- %he same local action that

can lead to prompt cus0tomer ser!ice can also leacon@icting messages being gi!en to customer andacrossdepartments. ne employee may be illing to gofurtherthan the ne2t in taking care of a particular needlea!ingcustomers ith di7erent le!els of ser!ice. %hedistributeddecision0making may also lead to a lack of clarityabout


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ho is responsible for hat. Bob de-nitions

become less

useful.

=. .rea/#o*n of %ierarc%ica contro8 %he emergence of

more cross0functional links often signals thebreakdon of the formal hierarchy for the carrying out ofmany decisions.

Cross functional teams may do an e2cellent /obof problem0sol!ing but managers ith ultimate

responsibility

for functional units are likely to feel a real lossof control,hich they may re/ect as too risky.

>. +e&oraisation- $lthough empoerment seems

attracti!e to many people. nol e!ery employeeants theresponsibility that comes ith it. Such peopleho prefer

not to be burdened ith additionalresponsibility maybecome seriously demoralised if they are forcedto take amore acti!e role in the management of theirorganisations.

Re$uisites for t%e Success of E&po*er&ent

. >9+ degree feedback. n order to get a complete

picture of

their performance, employees need feedback from a

!ariety

of sources, not only their boss.

=. Kariable reards ith some group component norder to

discourage e2cessi!e competition amongmembers theempoered organisation needs a reardsystem in hichthe aards a!ailable to e!eryone indi!iduallydepend uponthe performance of the group as a hole.

>. Drror tolerance. Dmpoered organisation needs

+ let

employees learn from their honest mistakes and

themistakes of others. %his means that unless anerror ismali0cious or repeated the empoeredorganisation istypically tolerant.

?. Dnhanced communication. 'ecision0making

re6uires

information, and an organisa0tion in hichdecision0making is idely distributed should likeiseha!e idely

dis0tributed information. %he presence ofelectronic mail.

internal nesletters, ell0stocked librariregular sta7 meetings and periodic cross0functionalconferences signi-esthe organisations3 attempt + makeinformation a!ailable.

A. Generalist managers and employees. %he

empoered

organisation tends to use more generalis

employees0people ho are trained in a !ariety of skand ho aree2pected (and e2pect) to mo!e around thorganisation,-lling in here needed and groing throPhori1ontalpromotions.O %hese people ha!e a broadof theorganisation and of their role in it.

9. %rust and support of management.

Dmpoerment rests

on the trust of top managers.

&ence it can be destroyed in moments hen

managers lose

trust and become uncomfortable ith sharecontrol and grabback the authority they had delegated.

Autono&ous Wor/ Tea&s

$n autonomous ork team is one, hich can plan

regulate and

control its on ork orld. %he management on

speci-es the

goals0that too in collaboration ith the teamrest is left tothe team. %he team organises the content anstructure of its

/ob, e!aluates its on performance, establisits speed andchooses its production method. t makes its internal


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distribution of tasks and decides its on membership. t

also

decides hether it should ha!e a leader for regulatingits internaland boundary conditions and ho that leader should be.

$utonomous team approach increases satis0faction andreducesturno!er and absenteeism. oreo!er, if a breakdonoccurs in

one team3s operation, all other teams can continue theiroperations undisturbed. %his is not so in the assemblyline.

illiken Company in the Jnited States employs

?,>++

orkers. or hat the company terms Passociates.O %hecompanyhas achie!ed a @at management structure in hich as0sociates,orking primarily in self0managed ork teams, e2erciseconsiderable authority. Self managed ork teams aregroups of

employees ho ha!e the poer to make operatingdecisionsand operate the system designed by managers. %hisapproachhas orked so ell that illiken has eliminated nearlyE++management positions since *:, freeing that manyindi!idu0als to ser!e as process0impro!ement specialists. Sincethe early*:+s, producti!ity has increased ?= per cent, and salesha!erisen signi-cantly.

Fe0ibe Organisation Structure

D!ery manager has to deal ith to %ypes of problemsin anorgani1ation8 routine and non0routine, %he e2istingbureau0

cratic organisation structures, though suitable fodealing iththe routine problems, are not suitable for dealingthe non0routine problems. %hese structures are geared tomaintainstability by ensuring utilisation of largelypredeterminedproduction processes and operations. %hey cannosuccessfully

sustain and strengthen change programmes or -ninno!ati!esolutions to problems. Studies ha!e shon that toke fullbene-ts of !arious technologies a!ailable in the fof computer integrated manufacturing (C), compaidedmanufacturing (C$), computer aided design (C$com0puter aided production management (C$), @e2manufacturing system (#S) and so on, a managneeds netypes of non bureaucratic organisation structures(ith fele!els of authority, lo di!ision of labour and lo of rulesand procedures) hich may e2ist side by side bee2istingbureaucratic organisation. %his ne @e2ible strucis knonas collateral organisation. t is manned by those !indi!idualsho are manning the e2isting organisution. nly mode of

functioning of the indi!iduals in the to forms chaccording lo the problem in hand. t is bureaucrahen theproblem is of the routine type and non0bureaucrahen it isof the non0routine type.

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Employee Involvemnt